Friendly Fiber Fixes

If you were to ask me what the most significant nutritional deficiency is today, I would have to say fiber. Not protein, although those of us over 50 could certainly use more of it. Not any other specific vitamin, although with winter coming vitamin D may be scarce. It’s fiber. Rather than review the benefits, I thought I would give you a few ways to increase your fiber intake with hardly any effort.

Increase Your Fiber

Eat an apple rather than drink apple juice. Apple juice has virtually no fiber while one small apple has 2.5 to 3.0 grams of fiber

Eat an orange instead of drinking orange juice. Again, little to no fiber in the juice, while there is close to 3 grams in a medium orange—and no, you don’t have to eat the peel.

Eat the entire baked potato instead of discarding the skin. That doubles the fiber intake from about 1.5 to 3.0 grams of fiber.

Want onions on your burger? A slice of onion may have a negligible amount of fiber in it, but caramelized onions would have a gram per tablespoon because the onions have been cooked down. Getting 2 to 3 grams with the typical serving would not only give you the fiber but tastes a lot better without the onion breath.

Add berries and nuts to everything: salads, ice cream, smoothies, cereal, almost anything!

Sometimes when you break down what you already do, it doesn’t take much to make an ordinary choice an exceptional one. Increasing your fiber intake doesn’t mean you have to add grit or bad taste. You just have to pay attention to get the benefits.

What are you prepared to do today?